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Authors:
Mel & Christy
Disclaimer: Not ours. Poo. Gundam Wing and all the characters belong to
Bandai and such. 'Happy Christmas (War Is Over)' is by John Lennon and
Yoko Ono.
Key:
minor scene change (from person to person at the same place, etc): ----------
major scene change (at another place, some time later, etc): * * * * *
flashback or dream starting or ending: ~*~*~*~
thoughts (and the occasional sound effect): *Tadah!*
some more sound effects (little ones!): -tadah!-
electronics (phone, TV, intercom etc): <<Tadah!>>
So
This Is Christmas
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
* * * * *
Wufei leaned against the wall outside Lady Une's office, listening to
Duo give his annual 'We Really Need Four Days Off Over Christmas, Both
Of Us, At The Same Time, Honest, We'll Go Nuts If We Don't Get It, When
Was The Last Time We Had Any Time Off Anyway?' monologue.
Sounds like he's still continuing that one run-on sentence, Wufei
thought, then tuned it out again, returning to thoughts of the upcoming
Christmas reunion. This had better go well... it certainly won't
be my fault if it doesn't! He scowled slightly. This holiday
is so important to Duo, especially now that it's our turn to host
the party. Kami-sama, I'm glad the house was finally finished last month...
Tuning back in briefly, he noted that Duo was still in good voice.
I haven't seen him this excited since we got married. The frown
melted into a smile as he remembered...
Trowa and Quatre had insisted on donating one of the Barton-Winner mansions
as the site for the wedding... and subsequent honeymoon. The press had
gone nearly insane at the news that Relena Peacecraft Yui, Queen of the
World, was going to be the Matron of Honour at the wedding of two MALE
Preventers (not to mention that her husband was Best Man); at least, they'd
gone insane until Relena had called a press conference and torn strips
of the worst offenders for their 'narrow-minded, parochial, MEDIAEVAL
attitudes'. With Heero standing behind her left shoulder, glaring.
Relena had even convinced Duo not to wear a veil. Though I'm almost
certain he was only joking... after all, it wouldn't have gone with his
tux.
...DAMN but he looked good...
Absent-mindedly turning the plain gold band on his finger, Wufei lost
himself in the memory. Duo in a white tuxedo... long hair rippling loose
down his back... tears of joy running down his face as Wufei slipped the
ring on his finger...
...Duo in bed that night, naked, arching up towards him...
----------
Sally and Noin walked down the hall past him, bursting into giggles once
they were safely around a corner.
"Oh God, I just love it when Chang goes off into a trance
with that sappy grin on his face!"
"Aren't those two so sweet?!"
"Yes..."
They looked at each other and chorused, "...not that we'd ever
let on!"
----------
Wufei was snapped back to reality as Lady Une's office door opened.
"Thanks, Lady! We appreciate it, really!" Duo bounded out and
set off down the hall, braid snapping behind him.
"I take it you won?" Wufei asked calmly as he fell into step
beside him.
"Yep! As if you doubted, 'Fei. Shinigami has not lost his
touch!"
"So I see." Wufei ostentatiously checked his watch. "Under
three hours; I confess I'm impressed."
"You always are." Duo shot him a wicked sideways look from under
his fringe, then bounded ahead. "Hope we get snow for Christmas!
Lots and lots and LOTS of snow!"
* * * * *
Over the next three weeks, Duo dragged Wufei out shopping at every opportunity.
They bought presents, fairy lights, tree lights, tree ornaments, trees
(yes, trees, plural; the first suffered a slight 'accident' on
the way home), food, mistletoe, more food, party favours, Christmas music
CDs, and even more food. Duo had an exhaustive list and insisted
on covering every eventuality, fretting between shopping trips that he
was sure they were forgetting something.
Unfortunately, they also had to deal with the results of 'an embarrassing
abundance of seasonal atmosphere', as one weatherman put it. It looked
like Duo had got his wish...
* * * * *
"Winter? Wonderland? I fail to see the logic in putting those two
words together in the same sentence, much less next to each other,"
Wufei snarled as he and Duo limped tiredly past a music shop that was
blasting out carols over its PA system. "If I have to rescue one
more stranded skier or frostbitten hiker..."
"I know, 'Fei. They'll wish they HADN'T been rescued," said
Duo soothingly. "Only a few more days and we're on holiday, OK? Then
we can take a break."
"I could almost excuse the ones who were caught up in the hills when
the first blizzard hit," Wufei continued, oblivious. "Though
they should have been paying better attention to the weather reports!
But the ones we're getting now? Idiots! The emergency services have even
posted warning signs on all the roads leading into that area, saying
that the heavy snowfalls have created avalanche conditions, and the idiots
still go up there?"
"I know, 'Fei."
"It would do the gene pool good if we LEFT them up there!"
"I know, 'Fei."
Finally registering Duo's weary tone, Wufei made an effort to calm down.
"Well... at least you got your snow for Christmas, right?"
Duo sighed. "Yeah... but it's all up in the hills! We don't have
any around the house! I don't get it, 'Fei, that 'lake effect'
thingy is supposed to mean we get snow!"
Wufei blinked. "You're right... perhaps we're on the wrong side of
the lake?"
"Awwwwwwwww man, I hope not!" Duo looked crestfallen.
Wufei smiled slightly, wrapping his arm around Duo's shoulders. "I
promise, Duo, if it hasn't snowed by Christmas Eve I'll borrow one of
the transport trucks and a snow blower and get you your snow, OK?"
Duo blinked disbelievingly at him for a second, then broke into a broad
grin. "Really?! No kidding? Oh, 'Fei, man, you're the greatest!"
He glomped his husband and kissed him enthusiastically, then broke loose
and danced on ahead. "Hey, I knew there was a reason I married
you!"
Wufei raised an eyebrow as calmly as he could, struggling to hide the
effect the kiss had had on him. "Oh? You married me for snow?"
Duo grinned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Well, originally
I thought I married you for another short word starting with 's',
but I could have been wrong..."
* * * * *
Despite the best efforts of numerous stranded holidayers, Duo and Wufei
did get off work on time on the 22nd, went home, and immediately
began decorating. They had a lot to do; between the endless shopping trips
and double shifts assisting the emergency services, they hadn't really
had time to hang any of the zillions of doodads they'd picked out.
Duo quickly got changed into ratty jeans and a warm turtleneck he'd 'borrowed'
from Trowa years before, and bounded out into the lounge room; Wufei heard
one of the Christmas music CDs start up as he finished getting changed
into dark brown slacks and a button-down shirt.
"Riiiiight... one last splash of *ahem* 'cider' on the fruitcake...
there's the bow thingies... there's the lights... Oi 'Fei, if you start
on the tree I'll put all the window thingies up, OK?"
"Any more 'cider' and that fruitcake will be more dangerous than
your 'perfectly innocent' punch at the last birthday party," Wufei
said as he emerged from the bedroom.
"I know!" Duo grinned. "Ain't it great? Watching her drinks
won't save Relena this year; we're finally gonna find out what the Queen
of the World acts like when she's drunk!"
"Duo, you are a reprehensible, irresponsible, irredeemable idiot...
and I love you just the way you are." Wufei pulled Duo into a long,
sweet kiss, then drew back slightly. "By 'window thingies', do you
mean the red velvet bows with holly sprigs that are going to go over the
windows on the inside, or do you mean the candle lanterns with
bows etc that are going on the windowsills to be seen from outside?"
"Ahh... um... both?" Duo replied fuzzily.
"Sounds fine to me. The tree stuff goes lights first, then tinsel,
then ornaments, right?"
"Sure, whatever... gimme another kiss first?"
----------
Wufei stood back and eyed the tree critically. He'd put the lights on
-- symmetrically, with all of them visible, not hidden behind a
branch -- but had had a little trouble with the tinsel. There just was
not enough of each colour to achieve the effect he'd originally
wanted; still, he thought he'd done quite well. Now for the next step...
He was halfway through sorting the ornaments by size, colour and relative
shininess, when the stereo (loaded with five CDs and set to 'shuffle')
switched to a carol he'd never heard before. (Admittedly, there were a
lot of carols he'd never heard before, since he'd never celebrated
Christmas until two years earlier, after he married Duo and Quatre first
suggested the annual get-together.)
Wufei straightened up and stared at the stereo, puzzled. "Who the
hell is St. Nick?" He'd certainly heard of Santa Claus, and Rudolph,
and a bunch of other reindeer, but St. Nick?
"Duo?"
No answer.
"Duo? Duo! Where-- ah." Duo's jacket was gone; he must have
gone outside. Shrugging into his own down jacket, Wufei went looking for
him.
Walking slowly around the house, he found himself relaxing at last. It
felt so good to finally have a place that was theirs, far enough
out of the city to be peaceful, it was a large wooded estate on the edge
of a lake. The house had been designed to their specifications, and finished
only recently.
We would have been able to afford the house much earlier if
we hadn't donated most of the money we 'appropriated' from OZ to all those
children's charities... but it made Duo happy. I'd rather have a happy
Duo in a tiny apartment than a miserable Duo in a mansion... and now I've
got a happy Duo in a mansion. He paused, smiling, to look out over
the lake.
"Whoa-- whoa-- oh, sheeeeEEEEYOW!" There was a loud crash to
Wufei's right as Duo landed in a large bush, followed by quieter clattering
noises as some small objects slid down the roof into the gutter.
"Duo?! Duo, are you all right?! Duo!" Wufei fought his way into
the bush and found his husband sprawled on his back, dazed.
"Owww... Wufei, why didn't you catch me?"
"How the HELL was I supposed to know you were up there? Are
you okay?!"
"Yeah... a few bruises, that's all. And my dignity'll never be the
same again."
Wufei snorted. "What dignity?"
"Oi!"
He started helping Duo out of the shrubbery. "Come on, back inside.
I'll make you a hot chocolate. What were you doing up there, anyway?"
"Um... just putting up some... stuff."
"'Stuff'?" Wufei let go of Duo's arm, since he seemed to be
standing OK on his own, and stepped back to where he had a good view of
the roof.
Duo watched him nervously, fidgeting with the end of his braid.
"Duo," Wufei said in a calm, conversational tone, "I remember
buying all those lights... but I don't remember the sleigh and reindeer."
"I, ah, got them in my lunch hour yesterday... while you were doing
all that paperwork. The shop delivered."
Wufei considered this for a moment, then nodded. He figured he could live
with a plastic sleigh and reindeer on his roof; at least the sleigh was
red and the reindeer realistic. He'd seen enough fluoro pink and purple
cartoon monstrosities in the last few weeks to convince him that at least
20% of the human race had no taste whatsoever.
Duo twiddled his braid some more. "You, ah, aren't mad?"
Wufei raised an eyebrow, walking back to slide his arm around Duo's waist
and steer him back to the door. "When I get angry, do I ever leave
you in doubt?"
"Well... not when we're alone..."
"And do you see anyone else around here?"
"Since I didn't get a plastic St. Nick to go in the sleigh, no."
"Ah. That's a point. Who is St. Nick?!"
----------
Ten minutes and one explanation later, Duo had his hot chocolate and Wufei
had the bag of leftover marshmallows.
Duo hid a smirk behind his mug as he watched Wufei absent-mindedly work
his way through the fluffy pink and white lumps. If I tell him what
he's doing, he'll get annoyed at himself for giving way to his sweet tooth
without even realising. If I don't tell him what he's doing, he
might just automatically throw away the empty bag when he finishes
and never realise what he did... but if he does realise, he'll
get annoyed at me for not stopping him.
Aaah, what the heck, it's cute. And he could use a little more weight
anyway... he keeps on working through lunch and forgetting to eat.
Wufei glanced over at Duo and narrowed his eyes, concerned. "Duo,
your lips are blue. How long were you up on the roof?!"
"Uh... not all that long... um, what time is it?"
Wufei reached over and plucked the empty mug out of Duo's hands. "Go
upstairs and have a hot shower, OK?"
"Hey, I had my jacket on!"
"And those ratty jeans that wouldn't keep the heat in if you lined
them with tinfoil. It's below freezing out there; go get warmed up. Now,
Duo."
"Yes, Mama. No, Mama. Three bags full, Mama..."
"Get up there!"
Wufei started cleaning up as Duo bounced out, putting the dirty mugs in
the sink and tossing the empty marshmallow bag away without ever noticing
what he'd done. As he moved out of the kitchen and turned to go back to
trimming the tree, his foot struck a small box.
Hm? What's this? Oh, right, the mistletoe... He snickered. Duo
wanted to wallpaper all the ceilings with this stuff. Might as well hang
it up first.
----------
[cont] [back to Mel and
Christy's fic]
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